Risk-reward, common questions
Straight answers on the ratio, the break-even win rate, position sizing, and what separates a trustworthy source of levels from a screenshot.
The questions traders ask first
How do I calculate a risk-reward ratio?
Divide the reward distance by the risk distance. The reward is from your entry to your target; the risk is from your entry to your stop. Entry 100, stop 98, target 106 gives a reward of 6 over a risk of 2, or 3:1. The calculator on this site does it as you type, for long or short trades. Try it on the calculator.
What is a good risk-reward ratio?
There is no single right number; it depends on your win rate. A ratio is good when your real win rate clears the break-even win rate it implies, with room to spare. 2:1 breaks even near 33% and 3:1 at 25%, so for most strategies a ratio of 2:1 or better is a sensible floor, but a 1:1 trade you win 70% of the time is also fine. More: how to read a ratio.
What win rate do I need at a given ratio?
The break-even win rate is one divided by one-plus-the-ratio. At 1:1 you need above 50%; at 2:1 above roughly 33%; at 3:1 above 25%; at 4:1 above 20%. To actually profit you need to clear that line after costs, so leave a margin. The calculator shows this number next to every ratio.
Does the calculator store or send my numbers?
No. It runs entirely in your browser with no account and no server call. Close the tab and nothing is kept. There are no trackers and no analytics tied to your inputs.
How does risk-reward connect to position sizing?
The ratio tells you the shape of a trade; position sizing tells you how much to put on. Decide the cash you will risk (commonly a small percent of the account), then divide it by the per-unit stop distance to get the number of units. The optional fields in the calculator do exactly this. More: position sizing from a ratio.
What do the A-to-D grades on the recommended setups mean?
Each setup carries a conviction grade from A (highest) to D (lowest), set by where it sits in its engine's own measured return distribution. Because the grade encodes expected reward against risk, it is the same judgement you make with the calculator, computed for you. There is no E grade; it was retired. The grade is hashed with the setup, so it is fixed before the outcome. More: grades that are measured.
Can I just follow one engine?
Yes. The single-engine plan is $20 a month, so you can track one clock without paying for setups you will never act on. All four engines are $50 a month on a 14-day free trial, and Pro Access is $5,000 a quarter. There is no money-back guarantee, so the trial is the way to test the fit.
Who is behind the recommended setups?
The setups come from Darren O'Neill, who won the 2023 Trading World Champion title and put up real-money results in the 2025 World Cup Trading Championships. He runs four systematic mean-reversion engines and stamps every setup to Bitcoin at release. An outside party reviews the record rather than the desk vouching for itself. More: about and where the numbers come from.